Oh dear...I'm glad it's "all in his head."

We Don't Play Guitars

No. No you don't. You don't sing either. You do, however, write a clever little doggerel...

Big Oil seems destined, over time, to give way to new energy technologies and the monolithic administrative structures that will support them...

Say hello to Big Corn!

(And say goodbye to cheap Corn Flakes and tortillas...)

Usually on weekends I'll cook some eggs and toast, but no eggs in the house today, alas. So rather than the same-o cold cereal I made a batch of oatmeal. Not the instant dried stuff, and not with water in the microwave. I mean real oatmeal, cooked stove-top with whole milk and lots of brown sugar. I even added the "optional" pinch of salt. The not-my-fault daughter inhaled it in less than 30 seconds and proclaimed it the "best oatmeal ever". It was probably the first time in her life she's had real oatmeal, made the real way.

Anyway, it reminded me of this book, which I read a few months ago. And then I check out some news and I end up seeing this excellent post from Glenn Reynolds, which in turn links to a New York Times piece about how nutritionists have pretty much been getting it wrong and letting us down in the process. As he says, be sure to read the whole thing...

Jack finally takes a much needed day off...

Does this mean my iPod technology will be eclipsed soon? And is this what all the kids will want under the tree next Christmas? I want one!

Autumn Sweater

Just synched up my iPod, and the data showed it was my most played song. And why not? Just love that droney, feedbacky, fuzzy Yo La Tengo sound...

Kate Winslet bares her arms, and Tammy Bruce explains it...

Virginia Postrel leads us to a striking pictorial about what 200 calories looks like.

(I like how she points out that broccoli and peanut butter aren't substitutes...)

I'm with Treacher.

Some leeks and carrots, wild rice, a little mustard-wine-cream thing...I'm tellin' ya...

The Education Wonks have just posted an all new Carnival of Education. Seemingly coincidentally, The Thinking Mother has just put up an all new Carnival of Homeschooling. Competing interests? Hardly. I link, you decide.

And while I'm linking and you're deciding, here's the latest Second Amendment Carnival.

"...one tip in a flotilla of icebergs."

The Pajamas team also notes a significant coincidence...

Taillights Fade...

Used to own the disc, but maybe it was friend Guach's disc that I just, ah, borrowed for an extended time. Just rediscovered it while looking for some old music; even more resonant than I remembered it.

A man pleads guilty to dangerous driving of a tractor, five counts of unlawful taking, three counts of burglary, and incurring debt by deception. Still, it could have been worse.

Mayor murdered. Everyone in town a suspect. So evidently not much-beloved...

Paul Belien, of Brussels Journal fame, has filed an outstanding report on the coming meltdown in Holland, where various "ethnic" and "cultural" "youths" are causing some "problems". Note particularly just how out of touch Dutch authorities are in terms of dealing with the problem in language that might resonate with the Dutch population at large.

Europe has less than a generation to get it's head out of it's ass and save itself, or there will be significant civil strife, by which I mean bloodletting...

"It appears we got here just in the nick of time. Now what does that make us?"

("See the man hanging out of the spaceship with the really big gun?")

More thrilling heroics from the finest television series ever created...

OK, that's enough Jack for now, let's get back to Becks and Posh and Tom and What's-her-face (I can't even be bothered to google it).

"Hey Jack, your popcorn's done..."

(Last one, I promise)

As predicted, it's the all new, hot-off-the-press, "hotter than a manhole cover in Valencia", Carnival of Bauer!

Everybody wants to be like Jack...

I bet Jack Bauer would like her, but for all the wrong reasons.

Despite my recent Beckham bacchanal, don't think for one minute I didn't notice that Jack's back. In a big way, ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkyoudo. I'm sure there will be a Carnival of Bauer up any minute, and in the meantime it seems Jack's been sent off on a critical, ah, diplomatic mission. Treacher points us to the best part of the opening four hours; I'm not sure I agree...

Still, I'm a little worried about Jack -- when we last saw him he was crying and hugging a tree.

Separately and on a more serious note, Hugh Hewitt offers some insightful commentary on the recent developments surrounding Jack.

Treacher weighs in on the Beckham/Cruise weirdness.

Here I've been thinking the LA move was to get Posh a sniff at some Hollywood action; it might be as much about Beckham...

The Hollywood weirdness begins.

In the cut-throat world of Euro soccer, it's always "what have you done for us lately..."

The Beckham Effect, Day Two

Was at the gym around noon yesterday and at least half of the televisions were tuned to ESPN, which was covering the MLS college draft live. There were player features, interviews, other infotainment bits. Maybe it's not directly related to the Beckham signing, but maybe it is, and if so it's quite a development for US Soccer.

I happened to watch this little video yesterday (I'm told the ladies like how he calls it "socca", so I'm going to be trying that out myself). I'm struck by both the direct and oblique references to his "family" factoring into his decision. It's pretty obvious Mrs. Posh Beckham is looking to get a piece of the Hollywood scene.

I hope this works out for Beckham and US Soccer...

I was a huge David Bowie fan growing up, collecting all his old albums before disc technology: Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Diamond Dogs, and etc...

So I got an ipod recently and I've been looking for downloads of some old music I used to listen to, and I stumble onto this bit of hilarity featuring Bowie and the guy from the original Office series on BBC. Trust me, it's a must see...

"Everybody now: He's banal and facile, he's a fat waste of space!"

Big, tender rabbits...yummm. Er, I mean I hope that works out for them -- who doesn't like a juicy rabbit in a nice mustard wine sauce with some wild rice?

Nothing like a bizarre totalitarian public policy coming back to bite you in the ass, oh, about a generation or so later.

A call for desperate females to emigrate to China?

Glenn Reynolds notes an odious little aside to the minimum wage increase.

Beckham to Los Angeles? Well, well, well...

The reported contract is for $250 million over 5 years, which is double A-Rod's deal. A staggering sum, and you have to wonder where MLS will find that kind of cash. The MLS player strategy thus far had been to avoid the old NASL formula of bringing over aging overpriced superstars which provided star appeal, but didn't necessarily improve the on-field quality. Does this represent a shift in strategy? Again, where's the cash coming from?

I've met US Soccer President Sunil Gulati, and he is, in a word, brilliant. I can't believe Sunil would do something his league couldn't handle over time, but still...

As an aside, MLS's biggest sponsor is adidas, and my club is on the verge of inking a uniform/sponsorship deal with adidas. Included in the package is an occasional player appearance for youth clinics and the like. Can I hope..??

If Beckham ever did come to my town for something like that, I'd auction off his time to all the soccer moms in town and I'd have the club's operating expenses covered for the next decade at least.

UPDATE: The requests for a picture are already coming in. Here you go:

ANOTHER UPDATE: The Soccernet page at ESPN has posted a survey where you can "vote" on why Beckham's coming at all. The choices are "challenge", "money", "fame", and "he had no choice". They left out a couple of obvious reasons: "all of the above" and "the desultory, dysfunctional condition of European soccer", about which I'll be commenting on in the days ahead.

"...does that make any sense?...Disasters keeps getting bigger and Miracles gets smaller?"

Last summer I drove a section of the Pacific Coast Highway with Winners Only Nick, along the stretch that includes Malibu. There were some pretty bad fires there a couple of days ago, and 4 mansions were destroyed. One of them happened to belong to Suzanne "at least I don't have a kid in Iraq" Somers, who seemingly forgot to drink her nice, hot cup of shut the hell up.

Thankfully, Tammy Bruce helps get Suzy sorted out.

Pajamas Media: "Too bad there's no thighmaster for the brain".

With a scope like that, how could you ever miss your target?

Nope, no questions. Works for me...

Listen, we gotta talk. It's about the shower curtain...

The good people at the Canadian Environmental Wildlife Service have provided a valuable and indispensable public service with a careful and scientific analysis of the effects of drugs in nature...

There's evidently a gas leak of some sort in Manhattan; not particularly threatening. New York says it's New Jersey's fault. New Jersey says it's New York's fault. Just another classic example of NOT MY FAULT!